


Not a Single Word

by cheshireArcher



Category: Henry IV Part 1 - Shakespeare
Genre: F/M, Gen, Harry Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, I just want them to be happy why do i keep doing this, Oh wow thats a tag; probably bc harry potter, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 15:50:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9769112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheshireArcher/pseuds/cheshireArcher
Summary: Something is destroying Harry. And it's destroying Kate too.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Content warning: It's about PTSD- not sure if that needs a content warning especially since it's in the tags. 
> 
> Fact: some people consider Henry IV Pt. I to have the earliest description of what we now call PTSD. Kate's description of Hotspur's strange behavior in Act 2 perfectly fits with it.
> 
> Why do I keep writing sad stories about them at 2:30 in the morning stop me.

Something was wrong with Harry.

He'd always been strange. So full of energy and of a single mind that took everything literally and was obsessed with abstract concepts like honor. But no matter how strange he had always been, he was perfect to Kate.

He'd always been angry, too. A temper that got set off easily, especially if his honor was called into question or someone he loved was threatened, he was always ready to fight for what he believed was right. But he was never malicious, or cruel. He usually wore himself out after ranting for a while and things went back to relative calm.

And he had loved Kate. Always come home and scooped her up and kissed her, always teased her and kept by her. He'd always been the one to wipe away her tears, and Kate  _knew_ he loved her. And she couldn't imagine being more in love. He wasn't the suave, romantic knight like in the ballads, who won a fair lady with word and deed. He'd sort of crashed into her life and initially she hadn't known what to do with him, but they'd figured it out in their own way. She calmed him and she came to love being his anchor on reality.

But now Harry seemed to have lost his grip on reality. Ever since he returned from Holmidon, he was preoccupied, storming around Alnwick and muttering about that ungrateful Bolingbroke. But even before that, two years ago, something had happened that shook him- perhaps the battle made it worse. 

Kate wasn't quite sure what had happened. She knew all about the rebellion against Richard, and that Harry had been present when some of Richard's lackeys were executed. But that was nothing new. People were executed all the time, in all sorts of grisly ways. She'd seen heads on city gates, people be hanged, that was just punishment. Unpleasant and off-putting and sickening yes but normal, and Harry was used to even worse violence in war. He was a man who actually liked battle. Kate wasn't stupid- she was far from the simpering, innocent little wife that knew nothing about battle or her husband's concerns. 

She patched him up when he came home. Gave him a bath. Cleaned off the blood and cleansed his wounds and bandaged them and had him rest his head in her lap and sang to him so he could begin to relax. 

She wondered if it had something to do with the execution he'd seen- Bushy and Green had been condemned rather quickly, and Kate could have sworn she heard him say "they didn't do anything worth killing them," at some point. Harry was a man who held honor and justice above all else and no doubt a miscarriage of justice would anger him. 

Harry had changed after returning from Holmidon. Not only was he angry that the king would not ransom her brother Edmund, he seemed shaken in body and spirit. He barely slept, and when he did, he talked about war and death as he slept fitfully. He seemed to be scared of the slightest thing- a noise, a sudden movement, sometimes nothing at all, and this from a man who had endured battle since his youth. He barely ate, even when they had his favorite stew, and he broke out in a sweat on occasion. He seemed to be falling apart, he couldn't function. Sometimes he barely noticed when Lady tried to get him to pet her. 

It was breaking Kate's heart. She didn't know how to help him, what was wrong or what he needed. He no longer held her in bed as they slept, if he slept at all. He hadn't pulled her into bed as he did almost every week, gladly letting her take what was her right, and then falling asleep curled up together in love and safety. She was afraid now to roll over and put her arm around him as he shook, afraid he'd snap.

It felt like they were no longer in the same bed. 

Something had destroyed him. Kate wanted to cry, but she couldn't force out any tears. Maybe that was a good thing- he'd probably be mad about that too. They argued more- and not the stupid fights they usually got into. Those they forgot quickly and had become a normal part of their relationship. Nothing seemed normal now.

She just wanted him back. Harry Percy- her dumb, honorable husband that teased her and trusted her and made her laugh with his stupid rants and dried her tears- even- especially- when he caused them. She prayed he'd snap out of it, that he wasn't too far gone, that she'd hear his laugh and see his stupid cute face light up again and she'd have her husband again. But every day he seemed to be slipping further and further away from her.


End file.
